Puppies Don't Clean Up Their Own Messes
by The Peep93
Summary: AU: In a world where 1 in every 50000 people are born as human-animal hybrids, the best closer in the whole damn city is hired to prove that keeping such creatures as pets is humane.  To make a good case, he's forced to adopt one for himself.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**

**Braveheart face paint on!**

**Random fan: "This is the Suits Fandom. It's too early for any AU's! To join it, you must pay homage to us writers and the hard work we have put in sticking to the show."**

**Me: "I give homage to USA Network, who owns Suits! And if this is the Suits Fandom, why do you run from AU's?"**

**Random Fan 2: "We didn't come here to read this kind of story!"**

**Random Fan 3: "Ho! The fandom is too young!"**

**Me: "Fans of Suits! I am The Peep93!"**

**Random Fan 3: "The Peep93 only writes wrestling fanfics!"**

**Me: "Yes, I've heard. She writes wrestling fics by the hundreds, and if SHE were here, she'd produce oneshots from her eyes, and sappy fics from her arse! *Laughter* I AM The Peep93! And I see a whole ARMY of my fellow fans, here in defiance of tyranny of NORMAL Suits fan fiction. You've come to read an Alternate Universe work of fiction. A fictitious story of a fictitious show. And what will you do with this AU? Will you read?"**

**Random Fan 2: "Read this? No!"**

**Me, nods: "Read, and you may dislike it so much that you keel over, dead. Never read it, and you'll live. At least a while. But will you lay in your beds, dying, knowing that you had this chance to show the haters that it is NEVER to early for a good AU? FOR SUITS! AND FOR FLUFFYNESS! AND FOR MIDNIGHT DELERIOUS RANTS ABOUT PUPPIES AND BRAVEHEART!"**

Harvey Specter walked into Pearson-Hardman with his chin held high. Just last night, he had closed a huge deal that just made the firm millions in assets. When he called himself the best damn closer in the city, he was NOT joking.

"Good morning, Donna," he greeted her receptionist as he walked past her desk.

"Jessica wants to see you in her office ASAP."

"What for?" She shrugged.

"Something about a new client. She didn't give me many details, only said that I was to reschedule your whole day so you could deal with something." Harvey smirked. No wonder Donna refused to look at him. It was only 9 and she had already rescheduled all his meetings."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Go, Harvey, before I tell that associate you think he's going to be the next you." Harvey winced.

"I'm already gone."

He walked into Jessica's office with his signature grin on.

"Jessica! How can I help you this fine day?"

"Harvey! I would like you to meet our new client, Dr. James Crawford." An older, bespectacled man stood and offered his hand.

"Dr. Crawford?" Harvey asked. "As in THE Dr. Crawford?"

"If you mean the Dr. Crawford who created hybrid species for companionship and as pets, then you have the right one," Jessica said, sounding quite pleased with herself. "Louis was speaking to him the other day, and landed him as our client." The amiable old man chuckled.

"You make it sound as though your clients are like fish. We've got those, by the way. Fish-human hybrids. I suppose they're merpeople, but that's besides the point."

"It's an honor to meet, you, sir," Harvey said honestly as he shook the man's hand. "Hybrids are a controversial business, though, aren't they?"

"Very." For the first time, Harvey noticed Louis Litt sitting in the corner, stroking the head of a hybrid that was sitting at his feet. "I met Dr. Crawford when I bought this handsome fellow. His name's Devon, and he's a Panther hybrid." Harvey examined the hybrid as Louis spoke. He had small black ears that poked out of almost the top of his head, and a furry tail that whipped about behind him as he purred contentedly.

"How ironic," Harvey mused out loud. "The most mousey looking man I have ever met is the owner of something that shares DNA with a jungle cat." He shook his head as Louis scowled. "Strange."

"Harvey, try to behave around the client," Jessica said, sounding exasperated.

"Of course." He turned to the doctor again. "Now, how can I be of assistance?"

"I'm being taken to court to try and prove that keeping hybrids as pets is not humane. I need you people to be able to prove that they aren't."

"You'll have the case, Harvey, so we need you to do some… Public Relations stunts." Harvey eyed her suspiciously.

"What KIND of public relations stunt?"

"Jessica, has it ever occurred to you there's a REASON I never got a hybrid?" Harvey asked as they walked through the halls of Ibrida Labs. The walls were lined with glass doors that led into small rooms with various breeds of hybrids. "I have money," Harvey continued. "And you of ALL people should know how much I like to flaunt it. Don't you think I have a good reason for NOT having a hybrid like the rest of upper-class society?"

"And what would your reason be?"

"I don't have time to take care of a normal pet, much less something that can talk and think for itself!"

"I put my Rachel to work, and she's fine as one of our paralegals. Whatever you pick can be your assistant until the end of the case. If you don't want to keep it, we'll bring him back and tell the world you were just coming up with a good defense by learning what it was like to live with a hybrid. Deal?" Harvey sighed.

"Fine, but I want some time off. If I've got to take care of someone else, I want to get off a couple hours early every day."

"Only for the first three days. Then you'll just have to figure something out."

"Fine. Dr. Crawford?" He turned to the old man. Show me the quietest one's you've got.

The first up was a hamster-hybrid.

"Oh God," Harvey said decisively. "It looks like Louis. Definitely not."

The next hybrid they brought out was a little dog… thing.

"What is he, exactly?" He was small, whatever he was. Or maybe just thin. Harvey couldn't tell because the hybrid was trying his hardest to hide behind the handler that brought him in, with his ears pressed against his head and his tail tucked between his legs.

"Some kind of mutt," Dr. Crawford explained. "His parents both worked here and were exposed to the virus that causes mutations like these. They were both killed in car wrecks, and his only remaining relative just passed away. He's been here for a couple months, and he's skittish."

"Does he cause any trouble?" Harvey asked.

"Not even a little," the doctor assured him.


	2. New Friends and Old Enemies

**AN: Wow, I should write for this category more often! You people are RAVENOUS!**

**I know that the chapter yesterday was really fast paced and a little bit spastic at some points, but I was on a roach hunt to destroy the pests in my dorm, and I'm happy to inform the world that I HAVE SUCEEDED! Until tomorrow when another one pops up anyway.**

**No, this story will not be slash. I don't write that kind of thing, so for those of you who were asking, there's your answer. **

**Somebody mentioned how nice fanart about this could be, and I say that if any of you are more artistically talented than I am, and that probably means all of you, then you should draw me a cute little Mike with cute little ears and a cute little tail. With a big Harvey next to him, obviously.**

**Last thing and I promise we'll get to the story. I'm thinking about using this hybrid-universe for some other ideas I have, too, and I need a witty name for it. Any suggestions? I'll explain where the hybrids came from either in this chapter or the next, depending on how late it is when I finish this one.**

**Without further ado…**

(Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits)

Harvey sat in the small room they had placed him and the hybrid in the moment he had expressed interest in the little guy. The pair were warily staring each other down, waiting for something to happen.

Well, Harvey was anyway.

The dog hybrid across from him was trying to stare a hole in the floor, glancing up every now and again only to quickly look back down when he saw that Harvey was still watching him.

The hybrid was a good foot shorter than Harvey, but his floppy ears made up for a few inches. The little guy was about as thin as a stick, though. Harvey was pretty sure he had blue eyes, but he couldn't tell because he wouldn't look up. But the most distinguishing feature about him were his light brown, spotted ears, and coarse brown tail. When the good doctor said he was a mutt, he wasn't kidding. The coloring and way the fur stood up on his ears suggested maybe some kind of mix between a terrier and a Labrador. Not that Harvey knew anything about dogs to go on, anyway, but his speculation was passing the time.

Speaking of time, Harvey was sure that he had been in there for HOURS, but when he glanced at his watch, it had really only been 10 minutes. He looked out the glass wall and saw Jessica giving him the eye. Dr. Crawford stood on one side of her carefully watching the interaction between the two, and Louis and his hybrid stood on the other side. Louis was simply enjoying watching the great Harvey Specter so far out of his comfort zone. With a sigh, Harvey realized that he'd rather get this over with now than have to sit and have hundreds of hybrids paraded in front of him.

"Do you have a name?" he asked, sounding a little harsher than he had intended. The hybrid visibly jumped when Harvey spoke, obviously not expecting it. He looked up at Harvey and nodded.

"Mike. My name's Mike." His eyes darted around the room before drifting back to the floor, but Harvey noticed that Mike's ears stayed trained on him. Not wanting to frighten the little guy away, he softened his voice.

"Well, I'm Harvey Specter. It's uh, nice to meet you, Mike." Mike's tail wagged a little as he looked up at Harvey with a shy grin.

"You, too, Mr. Specter." Silence enveloped them once more. It was clear that Mike wasn't speaking unless spoken to.

"So, have you been here long?" Mike shook his head, his ears drooping a little.

"No, only for a few months. After my grandmother died, nobody would take me in, so I had to come here." Harvey was desperately searching for something to say to stop the awkward silence from attacking him again.

"Is it nice here?" Harvey realized after he said it that it was probably a dumb question to ask, but the little guy smiled a little.

"Yeah, I guess. Some of the other hybrids don't really like me because I wasn't raised here like they were. I wish I had a home to go to, instead of having to stay here all the time."

Harvey sighed, and then briefly wandered if the hybrid was faking it. Maybe they all acted this cute and vulnerable when trying to get adopted.

"Can I ask you something?" Mike requested suddenly.

"Uh, sure?"

"Are you going to take me?" he asked seriously. "I want you to be up front with me, because we're both wasting our time by sitting here being awkward at each other."

Harvey looked up in surprise. So he DID have a backbone.

"You know what?" he said with a grin.

"What?" Mike asked, turning back to the floor.

"I think I am." Mike's ears shot up and his tail started beating against the chair he was sitting in.

"Really?" Harvey cleared his throat. No matter how adorable that was, Harvey Specter would NOT be affected by an overload of cuteness.

"I figure if I have to be stuck with a hybrid, you seem like a pretty nice one to be stuck with." Mike's ears drooped a little.

"Oh, well… yeah." Harvey quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Am I not good enough for you?" Mike looked back up in alarm.

"What? No! No!" He stuttered over some words before Harvey chuckled.

"I'm just messin' with ya. Relax!" Mike let out a choked sigh before forcing a chuckle.

"Yeah, haha, I knew that." Harvey mentally filed it away that the hybrid freaked out so much at the thought of not being adopted. With a mental shrug, he gave a thumbs up and a smile to Jessica and Dr. Crawford. He would only have to deal with the fidgety little hybrid for a few months, tops. Then he could send him right back where he came from and be done with the whole business.

Jessica and Dr. Crawford entered the room, with Louis and Devon trailing behind.

"Well?" she asked. Harvey stood, and Mike followed suit, moving to stand next to Harvey.

"I think this little guy will do just fine, right, Mike?" Mike smiled uneasily and nodded.

"Yeah," he said simply. Harvey noticed that he kept glancing at Devon uneasily, and the panther hybrid was grinning like the satisfied cat he was.

"Wonderful!" Dr. Crawford said, apparently oblivious to the tension between the two hybrids. "Now, Jessica, what were you telling me earlier?" Jessica turned to the elderly man and led him out the room. Everyone else in the room watched them leave.

"We'll need you to sign a few forms to make this official…" Jessica's voice trailed off as they walked out of earshot. Devon's attention immediately turned back to Mike.

"Hey, Mikey," he purred from where he stood, eyes taking in Mike's obvious discomfort as his tail lazily swished back and forth. Harvey looked at Mike, whose ears were suddenly pinned back. The hybrid shifted closer to Harvey and made a strange high pitched noise that Harvey identified after a moment as a whine.

"Um, Louis," Harvey said. "I think your kitty is scaring Mike."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Louis asked sarcastically. "It's not my fault you picked some scared puppy." A more feral grin spread across Devon's face.

"He's a scared puppy alright. Mike and I go way back." Harvey looked down at the – well, now HIS – cowering hybrid and got angry.

"I don't care how far back you go," he said, voice deadly calm. Slowly, he slipped an arm around Mike's slender shoulders. "If you mess with Mike, you'll have me to deal with now." Louis and Devon both looked a little shocked. They hadn't expected Harvey to actually stand up for the pathetic little dog. Out of the corner of his eye, Harvey saw Mike look up at him with something akin to hero-worship shining in his eyes. Harvey guessed that not many people stuck up for him while he was here.

"C'mon, Devon," Louis said, his eyes never leaving Harvey's. "Let's go."

"Bye, Mikey," Devon sneered as they walked out the door. Harvey let go of Mike when he was sure the other two were gone.

"Thank you, sir," Mike said. Harvey looked down and saw that he was right. Mike was staring at him with a mix of awe and gratitude.

He hoped this wouldn't be a clingy puppy.

(Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits)

Ray drove the pair back to Harvey's apartment, and they rode in relative silence. Harvey was warned before they left the Labs that Mike was always nervous riding in motor vehicles after what happened to his parents, so he let it slide when the hybrid stayed pressed up against him the whole way home. Harvey Specter was not a clingy person.

Luckily for everyone involved, though, it was a relatively short ride home. Mike grabbed what meager belongings he had and followed Harvey through the lobby of the large building. The poor little hybrid acted like he had never seen the inside of a building this big before.

"Stop gaping. You look like a fish," Harvey muttered to him as they waited for the elevator to reach them on the bottom floor. Mike instantly shut his mouth and stood up straighter, trying to impress his new master.

"Sorry, sir, but I've never been in anything this fancy before." Harvey quirked an eyebrow at him as the elevator dinged and they stepped inside.

"I thought you were raised by your parents, and then your grandmother," he asked, slightly lost. Mike looked down.

"Well, yeah. But I pretty much just stayed in the house. I couldn't go to school, and when I went outside…" he trailed off, debating on whether or not he was boring Harvey with his life story.

"Go on," Harvey said after a moment.

"Well, the other kids, the normal ones, they didn't want anything to do with me. A few of them even attacked me once. After that, I wasn't allowed to go outside by myself. My parents didn't take me places, because back then, people REALLY didn't like people like me." Harvey simply hmmed to himself before turning to the doors as they opened.

They walked down the hallway to Harvey's apartment. Harvey opened the door and walked in, Mike slowly following him as he took in all of the AWESOMENESS that was Harvey's residence.

"I am going to sleep," Harvey said as he walked towards his room. "You can sleep on the couch until we get the guest bedroom straightened out." He came out a moment later with some sheets and a blanket, which he threw at Mike. "Night, kid." Mike grinned sheepishly.

"Night, sir."

**AN: Sorry it took so long. Writers block, and roaches, then Ganon… Not kidding, it's been a weird day. Just a little bit of background on Mike. Next chapter will be all about the history of hybrids, so get ready for a science lesson. PS, did you read the author's note at the beginning?**


	3. Of Science and Obedient Puppies

**AN: Ok, imaginary science time. YAAAY!**

Harvey woke up at his normal ungodly hour and smiled when he saw Mike passed out on the couch. Kid probably never slept on anything so comfortable, he thought smugly to himself. Because he was Harvey Specter, and even his couches were grossly expensive.

He didn't exactly tiptoe around his sleeping hybrid, but the other never woke up. He left a note saying he'd be back in a few hours, and, after a moment of thought, specific instructions to not break anything. With a sigh, he called Ray and went downstairs to meet his driver.

Upon his arrival at the office, Donna informed him that Jessica had set up a meeting with Dr. Crawford to discuss the case. Harvey put some files together and walked into a conference room to be met with the old man's smiling face. Despite him seeming so innocent, Harvey got the distinct feeling there was more to Dr. Crawford than meets the eye.

"Harvey! How is Michael faring?" he asked.

"Mike? Oh, he's fine. Slept like a baby last night."

"That's odd," the doctor said. "Mike hasn't had a good night's sleep since his grandmother died. He must really like you." Harvey smiled a little.

"Enough about Mike. Tell me about this case. What exactly is going on?" Dr. Crawford's face fell.

"There are certain activist groups that speak out against hybrids being sold as pets. They say that because they're part human, they deserve to be free."

"But?" Harvey nudged, trying to get him to continue.

"But, they have no life training. They are looked down upon. If we let them out into the world… Who knows what people would do to them?"

"So you sell them to people who can afford your exorbitant prices."

"If we just gave them out, I could never be guaranteed they'd be taken care of. They're like my children, you see. I had a hand in creating them the way they are." Harvey suddenly figured out why he had a bad feeling about this man.

"And you receive a kickback from selling them." The older man shrugged.

"The lifestyle of the rich and famous doesn't come free, you know." Harvey kept his opinions to himself. Opinions didn't make clients, and as disgusting as he was, the man was right. The lifestyle of the rich and famous DOESN'T come free.

"Start from the beginning. How exactly did hybrids come into the world?" Dr. Crawford sighed.

"It must have been 30 years ago, now. We had started out with the best of intentions, you know."

"No, I don't," Harvey said. "Everything concerning the creation of hybrids is kept top secret."

"And for good reason. The government doesn't want anyone else trying to replicate the experiment. There were six or seven of us. We wanted to create something that could stop diseases like Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's. And not just something that would seem to stop the effects, but something that would completely cure the underlying cause. We wanted to be able to eradicate all genetic diseases on the DNA level."

"How exactly were you planning on doing that?" Harvey asked.

"A virus," he said, almost sounding in awe of his own ingenuity. "We were in the middle of the Cold war, and all kinds of social reforms. We had the technology, and one day, we had the idea. We could create a virus that would inject healthy DNA into the cells of a fetus, essentially eradicating all possibilities of genetic defects. In essence, it was genius. But we were prohibited from using human test subjects, so we were forced to use other animals. We tested all varieties of creatures, taking DNA samples from every creature we could get our hands on. Our tests were successful, much to my excitement. We were scheduled to begin testing on human fetuses within the month, but then…" the old man paused.

"What?" Harvey asked.

"One day, one of our animals was born… oddly. A lion cub was born with a leopard's spots. We didn't know what had happened, but it was a grave mistake.

"One of my assistants had gotten pregnant during the course of our experiments. She came in with the ultrasound pictures of her baby, crying." He sighed. "That child was the first hybrid."

"But, how?" Harvey asked.

"We didn't think that a virus designed to attack a certain breed of animal could possibly affect humans. Besides, the virus couldn't affect a fully developed creature. It had to be infected during early development. We never thought a human fetus…" he sighed again. "Reports began to come in from all over the country. We had unwittingly become carriers of the virus and spread it to others. Abigail's daughter was born with the ears and tail of a cat. Once the government found out, we were declared not guilty of human testing, but were ordered to cease all testing. All our research was destroyed, and now, vaccines to keep from getting the virus are too expensive for some to afford."

"So, let me get this straight," Harvey said. "All that, all those years, and you want us to prove it's legal for you to sell them because they're not entirely human?" Crawford thought for a moment.

"Basically." Harvey smiled his lawyer smile. He checked his phone, where he responded to an imaginary text.

"Excuse me for a second, will you? I need to speak with Jessica for a moment." Dr. Crawford waved him off with a smile.

"You must excuse me as well. We're getting a new hybrid in today and I simply must be there when she arrives."

"Of course. We'll call you?" Crawford nodded.

"I hope to see you soon, Harvey." They walked out of the conference room and Harvey made sure he got to the elevator before heading to Jessica's office.

"If it gets out that he's taking kickbacks from selling them, we've got no case. That'll never stand up in a human rights case." She shrugged.

"Figure it out. You've dealt with worse before."

"And you also realize that this is going to have to go before the Supreme Court, right? There's no way we get this worked out before."

"Not unless we start lobbying the state legislation to get something passed. Then we don't spend any time in court at all."

"This is ridiculous, Jessica. We're corporate lawyers, not politicians."

"And Ibrida Labs is a corporation that we represent, and so we shall do our best to keep their best interests in mind." Harvey threw up his hands.

"Whatever you say, Jessica, you're the boss."

(Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits) (Suits)

Harvey put in another few hours at work before finally heading home at 5, getting off a few hours early just like Jessica had promised him. Ray took him to a little Chinese restaurant to pick up food for himself and Mike before going back home. Wearily opening the door to his apartment, he was surprised to find Mike sitting on the couch dumbly staring at the TV, which was off. His brows creased as the hybrid finally looked up at him.

"Delayed reaction?" he asked. He set his briefcase and the bags of food down on the counter before going to the kitchen to get something to drink. "Have you just sat there all day?" Mike looked at him quietly for a moment before slowly nodding. The dog turned his attention back to the food in the bag. "Did you do anything ELSE?" he asked, a little confused with the other's behavior. Mike shook his head no before opening his mouth slowly.

"I didn't want to break anything," he said, referencing the note Harvey had left him. His voice sounded a little raspy, like he hadn't had anything to drink in a while.

"Did you eat or anything?" Mike looked down and his ears drooped before he mumbled a 'no.' "Why not, kid?"

"I didn't wanna break anything and make you mad, and…" his voice trailed off.

"And what?" Harvey prodded gently.

"And then you'd send me back because I didn't listen to you." Harvey sighed.

"Alright then, here's the deal. Be careful not to break anything, but if you ever get hungry or thirsty or need to use the bathroom or ANYTHING, just go ahead and do it, ok?" Mike nodded meekly. "Now, do you like Chinese food?" Mike nodded vigorously this time, his tail thumping against the couch as he thought of food.

**AN: It's midnight, and I just posted a oneshot AND got the next chapter of this done. *pats myself on the back* And now, it's bedtime. Goodnight, all, be sure to review, yadey yadey yada, make sure you read the second chapter, too, cuz a whole bunch of people posted stuff the past few days and I think it got pushed to the next page. Does that make sense? Probly not, I get delusional at night. STOP RAMBLING! QUICK, RUN BEFORE IT STARTS AGAIN!  
>Night! =p<strong>


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